Ytown Flea’s McDowell: Optimistic About Upcoming Markets

Derrick McDowell, founder of the Youngstown Flea, is coming back strong. You can learn more about Derrick and the Flea at the organization’s website.

What are some ways the COVID-19 outbreak has affected your organization, and how is it rebounding?

Certainly we know that COVID-19 completely halted the ability for communities to gather. Large events like the Youngstown Flea were immediately impacted. We saw our April and May events immediately cancelled. Working closely with the local Health Department, we were thankfully able to have a widely safe and successful return with our June market. We are cautiously optimistic and closely following any developments coming from the state and local health officials regarding our future markets scheduled for July through October.

How has the outbreak affected your personal life?

As devastating as this pandemic has been for so many, and impacting as it’s been in so many ways, I found solace in the fact that much of my work was impossible to do in the community. I had to eventually arrive at the place that I didn’t feel “guilty” for my family being home, safe and healthy. There was so much concern on my part for so many, while at the same time, I was looking for ways to enjoy my wife and kids being home, and us getting closer to one another. It was such a strange and challenging dynamic to balance but it has been good.

What steps are you taking to come back strong?

We’ve leaned on the support of our community of makers, creatives and doers, along with clear guidance from health officials. That plus the constant “people over profit” mantra we espouse and profess guided us as we sought to bring the Flea out in the open again during one of most tragic times in recent history.

What advice are you sharing with the people you love?

Each of us has the responsibility to care for one another. If we each learn of the part we must play to get through this together, in love, we can make this pandemic something through which we don’t simply survive. It can be something that we grow through, not just go through.